A blog for the United States branch of the global Centre for Fortean Zoology

At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

This is a creature in the folklore of Sweden. Grasp it and it will shed its skin. If you then lick that, it is said you will acquire knowledge of the virtues of plants, earths and stones and you will become a healer. Could there be such a creature living in the Swedish forests? Who knows?

Castell Coch in Wales lies near Cardiff/Caerdydd, the Welsh capital. There is said to be treasure underneath it guarded by three Great Eagles. Between October and March it is said their cries echoed throughout the land roundabout.According to legend, there have been at least two attempts to secure the treasure: in the 17th Century a group of heavily armed men tried to destroy the aquiline gardens, but were driven off; in the 18th Century a similar attempt was made by a group of veteran soldiers, but they were no more successful than the first group.The implication is these eagles were of an unknown kind. Certainly, they seem to have had extremely long lifespans. They were probably conceived as paranormal.

The following information comes from a letter in the Alexandria Gazette, a Virginia newspaper, in 1868.An incident occurred on the farm of one Silas Brown (pseudonym). This worthy lived in Prince William Forest near Independence Hill (Virginia). He saw a creature a number of times near his barn and on one occasion was actually assaulted by it. The beast was described as being as large as a man, its back was 6'-8', its arms were substantial, it had large horns and awful claws which could be contracted into hoof-like structures. Its normal color was blue, but upon being angered it turned white. Another witness also claimed to have seen it.If all of this is true, the assault on Brown does not seem to have been fatal and he does not seem to have thought it necessary to vacate his premises to avoid the creature, which might imply that the injuries he received were not too serious.

1870: New York's Nunda Times newspaper (now the Northern
Allegheny Observer) reports that "a strange beast, like a
kangaroo" has been seen "hovering" around Moscow, New York—presumably
Moscow Hill in Madison County, since no town of that name exists in the Empire
State—attacking dogs "promiscuously." The editors declare, "We
hope he will kill off most of the dogs before the hunters bag him." In
fact, the alleged kangaroo escapes unscathed.

Wednesday, 30 December 2015

1977: Four persons socializing at a home in Wrose—a village
and civil parish in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough of West
Yorkshire, England—observe a two-foot-tall humanoid figure with "small
wings" materialize inside the house. It wears a silvery-white suit and a
helmet with two large vertical slits where the eyes would normally be. It
hovers silently for several moments, then fades from view as suddenly as it
came.

1974: The Robeson County Sheriff's Department receives
multiple UFO reports from Lumberton residents around 10 p.m., plus one claim
from a family of four that they saw a humanoid figure dressed in "a silver
and black suit with some sort of helmet" walking around the Forest Acres
district, leaping in and out of bushes when observed. Four deputies check the
woods surrounding Forest and Barker Ten Mile Roads but find nothing out of the
ordinary.

Animals and Men Issue 55 is now available and it is totally free. All you have to do is go to cfzresources.com/publishing/animals-men/ There you will find it in all its glory. It is profusely illustrated and features a large number of articles on cryptozoology and natural history.

This issue includes the following:Serpent Dragons of Ancient GreeceBlue DogsMan-BeastsYeti EncounterMystery CatsOgopogoRiver Tay MonsterLake Mishu MonsterGiant rabbitsTeratologySea SnakesLiberia and CryptozoologyWatcher of the SkiesBig Red Click BeetleMystery BatPseudo-Chupacabra exposedplus the ruminations of Jon Downes, Newsfile and CFZ Publications.All this is absolutely free if you go to this website:-cfzresources.comYou'll have to scroll down a little to reach the magazine.Did I say it was absolutely free?

In northerly climes we are now approaching the time of year when people are most likely to feel depressed. This is because the lack of sunlight diminishes the quantity of Vitamin D we take in. If you find yourself seriously depressed in this season of long shadows, do not hesitate to see a doctor. Some people feel it is rather silly to see a doctor with a complaint like this, but I can assure you that Depression is not only a serious medical condition, but it is recognized as such. Your doctor will not think you foolish to approach him with it. While this is the time of year it is likeliest to strike, it can manifest itself at any time of the year.Why, you may ask, am I giving out medical tips on a website such as this? Believe me, it will not become a common practice, but, in the case of this particular disorder, many people do not realize it is a disorder at all and, as we have hundreds of hits on this site, I felt it pertinent to throw in this piece of information, in case it helps anyone out there who might be suffering needlessly from its effects.

1839: Philadelphia's Saturday Courier newspaper
reports that a hairy "wild child" has been seen near and swimming in
Indiana's Fish Lake, in LaPorte County. The article does not differentiate
between Upper and Lower Fish Lake, both feeders of the Kankakee River.

1981: Four young boys walking their dogs on the Hackney
Marshes—an area of grassland on the
western bank of the River Lea in the London Borough of Hackney—discover a trail
of three-clawed footprints in the snow. One youth claims the tracks are bear
footprints, though all bears known to science share five claws on
each foot. Moments later, the boys meet an elderly couple that warns them to
leave, since a "bear" has been prowling the area. Pressing on
regardless, they soon meet "a giant great growling bear-like creature"
and finally flee the vicinity. Police search the 5,000-acre wasteland on December
28, employing a helicopter and tracking dogs, finding no creature but discovering
"several convincing sets of tracks" that end abruptly in the snow.

Today (December 26th) is the feast day of St Stephen, who is the earliest Christian martyr as far as is known. His martyrdom is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, which tells how he was stoned to death.The day is also famous for the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas, the action of which takes place on the feast of Stephen. This was penned by John Mason Neale in 1853, using a traditional tune. Critics said it would never catch on.The subject of the carol is Duke Wenceslas/Wenceslaus/Vaclav of Bohemia. This character lived in the 10th Century and is regarded as a saint in the Catholic Church. He was murdered. After his death the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I conferred the title of king on him posthumously.When Bohemia (in the modern Czech Republic) is in danger, it is said that the statue of the king in Wenceslas Square will come to life. He will rouse a host of sleeping warriors in the mountain of Blanik. They will cross Charles Bridge, where his horse will stumble and he will then find the sword Bruncvik. He will then defeat the enemies of his country.

1975: While hunting near Vaughn, Montana, two teenage girls
report meeting Bigfoot. They fire into the air above its head, whereupon it
drops to the ground. Other hairy humanoids then appear, helping the first one
into a thicket where they all vanish from sight.

Friday, 25 December 2015

1959: Four children on their way to one's home in Union
Ferrovaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina, are crossing an empty field when they see
a "short, dark, humanoid figure" flying across the field from east to
west, traveling at a height of some thirteen feet above the ground, then
ascending until it disappears in darkness.

1909: Witnesses Eve Gladys and Gwen Ruffle woke on Christmas
Eve, disturbed by light shining through their bedroom window at Fernhurst, West
Sussex, England. Rising, they saw "two golden doves" crossing the
sky, flying so close together that their wings touched, whereupon "the
figure of an angel" appeared, surrounded by a brilliant aura. The angel
soon vanished, while the golden doves faded away more slowly.

In the 1960s a teenager from Sherman (NY)told John Keel that creatures from a nearby swamp had been reported by a number of witnesses. They sometimes walked on four feet, sometimes on two. (the creatures, that is, not the witnesses). They were covered in white hair and, when standing upright, they were 12'-18' tall. They also had long tails, 6'-8'.This cryptid would seem to be an isolate, but we would welcome reports of anything similar.

German lore gives St Nicholas a companion in the form of Knecht Rupert. His function is to punish bad children. He initially seems to have been there as a bogeyman. It has been suggested that Knecht Ruprecht has his origin in the Wildman of European folklore and cryptozoological interest. Mythologists have argued that the figure of Woden/Wotan/Odin lies behind him. Jacob Grimm thought he was in origin a homesprite, one who looked after a family in their home. However, the first direct information we have about him is his appearance in a German play of 1668.Ruprecht dresses in black or brown and has a face blackened with soot. Sometimes he wears goatskin. In Catholic areas, he may carry a Rosary. He may sometimes be portrayed as limping. The term knecht means a farm laborer and another argument is that he is simply meant to represent a member of the laboring class.Ruprecht really attained fame in a poem called Knecht Ruprecht(1862) by Theodor Storm. These days, instead of meting out punishment, he instead gives apples, nuts and gingerbread to children. He is sometimes shown riding a white horse. He may have attendants of the elf and fairy kind.

1900: A mysterious airship soars over Boston at 7 p. m.,
viewed by thousands of witnesses, then drifts on over Marlboro, Framingham and
Natick. Passing over Needham and Newton, it hovers above the later city for an
estimated 25 minutes, roughly 100 feet above ground, then sails on into
mystery.

When John Hyatt published a photograph of what he claimed were real Fairies, he was swamped by further photographs from around the world. It has, however, been argued that Hyatt was mistaken in thinking his photographs were of Fairies.

1919: New Zealand's Ashburton Guardian newspaper
reports that sentries assigned to the arsenal at Godego, near Castelfranco
Veneto, Italy, have claimed repeated sightings of a luminous humanoid
"apparition" with flames shooting from its head. According to a
correspondent in Milan, one guard sounded an alarm and others rushed to his
aid, all firing their rifles at the eerie figure, whereupon it "instantly
dissolved into a great ball of fire." Thereafter, alls sentries fled their
posts and some subsequently "lost their minds."